I've read all the books and still don't understand the hookup of the mainboom to the mast. Can anyone help explain this to me

Richard,
I took a lot of pictures at last years Nationals of all the contestants boats. Maybe a look at how others do it will help you understand this.

Try going to this page: http://www.proefrock.net/EC12Web/Bldg_Ideas/Mast.htm

There are about 20 pages of pictures of parts of EC12s on the website.

Paul P

Buy the Mike Zellanack fittings (see suppliers list on EC-12.com site) and ask Mike about installation.